Startup founders will have to create a pitch deck at some point in time for their startup. This can be in the early stage of the business or further down the line.
The primary reason founders create a startup pitch deck is to raise funding. Naturally, as the startup matures and grows, so will the pitch deck.
A pitch deck for a pre-seed or seed-stage startup will include information that’s different from a Series A or Series B startup.
In this article, we’ll be talking about what a pitch deck is, why you need one, and what to include in your deck. We’ll also answer as many of your pitch deck-related questions as we can.
What is a pitch deck?
A pitch deck is a presentation where you provide an overview and financial information about your startup.
Referred to as an investor slide deck, startup deck, or slide deck, your pitch deck should answer investor questions and show them why they should invest in your business.
Generally speaking, investor slide decks should include information about the business, the market, founders, and cover financial forecasts.
Like most presentations, your slide shouldn’t be full of writing but should offer a visual view of your business. However, unlike general presentations, pitch decks need to have enough information so investors can refer to it later on.
It’s also worth mentioning that the length and complexity of a pitch deck will differ based on the stage your startup is in.
Why do you need a pitch deck?
The main reason founders create pitch decks is to entice investors to invest in their startup. However, it’s imperative that you don’t lie or exaggerate figures in your bid to entice an investor. This can break your business quite early.
In other words, the job of a pitch deck is to:
– Inform
– Generate interest
– Get investors to schedule a second meeting
– Help you raise money
How long should a pitch deck be?
A widely-asked question about investor slide decks is: How long should my pitch deck be?
It’s safe to say that there’s no specific length for a startup pitch deck. However, the stage of your startup, your products and services, your financial projections, and whether you’ve raised funding in the past may all impact the length of your presentation.
Renowned financial investor Guy Kawasaki recommends a 10-slide pitch deck. Here’s what he recommends:
“A pitch should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.”
He adds that this 10/20/30 rule can be applied to any presentation whose purpose is to reach an agreement. This 10/20/30 can be used with presentations for “raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership” among others, Kawasaki notes via his website.
This 10/20/30 formula works with presentations for “raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership” among others, Kawasaki adds.
That said, if it won’t fit, you don’t have to cram all your information into 10 slides. The typical length of a startup pitch deck ranges from 10 to 20 slides.
Startups that have raised funding can expect a bigger pitch deck because they have more information to present to investors.
According to Slidebean, different investors have different expectations for the length of the pitch decks they’re presented with.
Here’s a roundup of those expectations:
What should your startup pitch deck include?
Now that we’ve covered the basics of a pitch deck, let’s explore a common question startup founders ask: What should be included in a pitch deck?
Here’s a bit of advice, to start, from venture capitalist and multi-book author Guy Kawasaki:
Your pitch deck should inform investors of:
- Your mission and vision
- The problem and the solution
- The industry your startup operates in
- Your target market
- Your overall business model
- Whether the business is generating revenues or not
- Where your startup is in the market
- How your business performs against your competitors
- Who the founding team members are and their qualifications
- Your funding needs
- How you plan to use the money raise
- Your company’s financial forecasts
Let’s look at a basic outline of a startup deck:
1) Cover slide
This is a basic cover for your presentation. It usually has the name of your company and logo. You may include a supporting design or image to set the tone of your slide deck.
2) Introduction or Vision and value proposition slide
The first part of your slide deck introduces your business, the industry it operates in, and your unique value proposition (UVP).
For some, the vision and value proposition slide follows the introduction, for others, this slide replaces the introduction slide.
The key to a winning vision and value proposition slide is to keep it short and simple.
3) The problem
In this slide, you’ll explain what the problem your target customers or audience are struggling with and how your business solves that problem. This slide should focus on the ‘why’ behind your business.
In the problem slide(s), you should include your customer’s pain points, how these pains are being addressed (if they’re being addressed), and why current options are inadequate.
If your target customer is an enterprise, you’ll have to dive deeper into the customer’s pain. It’s best if you or one of your co-founders is an industry expert so that they can better present this information.
Make sure your business isn’t a solution looking for a problem. No investor will be interested.
4) Target market overview
Some startups may opt to merge points 2 and 3 into one or separate them. In your target market slide, you should explain who your target customers are, the characteristics they share, and how your products and services meet their needs.
If you offer multiple products, you should highlight the different target segments for each project in this section.
5) The solution
One of the most important slides in your pitch is the solution slide. In this one, you want to explain how your business solves your target market’s problems.
The best way to present the solution slide is to tell customer stories. Show investors how customers used your products or services and how it made their lives easier, better,…etc.
Depending on what you’re offering to customers, you may include images or a video of your products being used here as well.
6) Traction
The traction slide shows investors your business model and how it supports your business growth. Traction should also show any monthly growth you’ve achieved.
Data for your traction slide can include your monthly revenues, profit margin, number of users or customers, your average customer return rate…etc.
How you present the information in the traction slide is up to you. It can be in the form of bullet-points, a series of milestones, an infographic, or something else.
7) Your marketing and sales strategy
Your startup pitch deck should cover what you’re doing in terms of marketing and sales and the strategies for each.
One of the questions investors will ask you is how you plan to grow. Investors use the information to see if your market strategy and approach is similar to or differs from your competitors.
8) Your competitors
This section of your pitch deck should show investors what sets your product or service apart from your direct and indirect competitors.
This slide also shows the total addressable market and how saturated the market is.
Much of the information in this slide can be found in your competitor analysis.
Further reading: 41+ Startup Terms and Business Metrics Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know
9) Your Team
A commonly-asked question is “What to include in the pitch deck team page or slide?”
This team slide focuses on the founders and the management team in your business. It should also cover your team’s expertise and their ability to market and sell the product.
Most startup pitch decks cover the co-founders in this slide.
If you’re a Series A or later startup, you may include additional key team members in your team slide(s). Don’t forget to include their past expertise and how they have helped drive your business forward.
10) Financial projections
If there were best practices for startup pitch decks, this is one of them. Be sure to include the financial forecasts slide right before the investment slide, where you mention how much you’re looking to raise.
This is one of the most important slides in your investor pitch deck.
In this section, investors want to know what your future numbers look like. What’s your growth trajectory going to be in the next year? 3 years? 5 years?
The financial projections slide indicates the financial health of your startup for the next few years. This slide usually includes information about your business model, along with cash flow data, your income statement and growth projections.
Discover the 5 Common Cash Flow Planning Mistakes Businesses Make
You may choose to have your traction slide right above your financial forecasts slide. Either way, your traction slide can prove helpful with your forecasts.
11) How much you need to raise and why
Last but certainly not least, your investors need to know how much you need to raise and how you plan to use the funding.
Sequoia Capital’s startup pitch deck template follows a similar process with fewer slides.
How to handle the ‘why now’ slide on your pitch deck?
One of the important questions you’ll need to answer in your pitch presentation is ‘why now?’
‘Why are you launching this startup now?’
‘What’s happening in the industry now that makes this the perfect time to fund and grow your business?’
‘Why has no one thought of this until now?’
Companies that succeed in raising funding tend to have a clear ‘why now’ slide.
Most successful pitch decks of all time
Following the above-mentioned list and tips will get your foot in the door. However, you need to be aware that the fund-raising process is a very long one.
Let’s look at two examples of successful pitch decks that got the funding.
Successful pitch deck examples: Buffer
Social media marketing platform Buffer co-founders met with 200 investors in over 50 meetings before 18 investors decided to invest in their seed round. Buffer raised nearly $500,000 in its seed round back in 2013, according to its co-founder Leo Widrich.
Some pitch deck advice from Buffer’s co-founders:
“Focus completely on traction. Focus on product/market fit. When you have good traction, it becomes much easier to raise funding.”
Successful pitch deck examples: Beelinguapp
Another more recent and successful pitch deck was the one by language-learning ed-tech startup Beelinguapp.
Established in 2020, Beelinguapp successfully raised $1.1 million in its pre-seed round using a 13-slide pitch deck. This ed-tech startup helps people learn languages through audiobooks, songs, and news.
Here’s a slide from its pitch deck. Beelinguapp says it combines the benefits of Netflix with Blinkist. Its more accurate description of itself is:
“Learn like Babbel or Duolingo using content like Audible, Blinkist, or Netflix.”
A common question when it comes to pitch decks, is how many slides should a pitch deck be?
Here’s an overview of some of the world’s popular startups today and the number of slides they had in their pitch decks.
Final words
Whether you choose to create a short 10-slide pitch deck or a longer one, you must give your deck all the attention and detail it deserves.
Be sure not to augment your financial forecasts in the hopes of getting your funding faster. This will only hurt your relationship with potential and future investors.
Your pitch deck will help get your foot in the door, but your demo presentation or final presentation to investors is what will make them consider you at all. That’s why we recommend you rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse your presentation.
If financial projections or even creating pitch decks is not something you’re familiar with or want to experiment with, you can reach out to us at Stride. We’d love to help.
We’ve helped startups in real estate, tech, SaaS, and food and beverage create successful pitch decks that got the funding.
So, whether you need help with your financial forecasts, a business plan, or creating your pitch deck, we’ve got your back. Get in touch with Stride today.
